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Random thoughts on our impending doom and everyday life, courtesy of a Romance Writer who occasionally feels the need to talk like a Sailor.

Friday, 6 April 2012

True Love Vs the End of the World as we know it...

I’ve been working on a Short Story this week. Not something I usually do.
I prefer sinking my teeth in and settling in for the 80,000 or so. (Yes, I know
that’s not super long. I lost to War and Peace but did manage to defeat Lord of
the Rings.) So I ummed and ahhed over my choice of topic. Then thought, f**k
it.

Some believe that writing about the times directly following an apocalyptic
type event is too depressing. Too ‘yucky’, if you will. Too grim. I disagree. People
are at their best when put to the test. That is when true grit shows (great
movie and I love you, Mr Bridges). The size of their heart and the strength of their
character, the will to live and the instinct for survival... All the complex
and enthralling bits and pieces that makes us humans such fascinating critters is
raw and on display during hard times. Both the good and the bad.

And then there’s hope. Beautiful, uplifting, warm and golden, gushy with
heavenly harps from on-high, HOPE. In romance land, love must inevitably conquer all. No apologies given. But how much more
interesting is that battle when the world is shot to sh*t? How much more
exquisite is the struggle for true love when the odds seem insurmountable? When
civilisation and life as we know it has hit rock bottom and we’re dragging our
sorry carcass’s back up?

Say you’re out and about and you meet a nice person. A lovely person, well
dressed, pleasant, says the right things. As unique and free-thinking as we all
are, we’re also partially a product of the system, the world we grew up in,
whatever you wish to label it. So who is this perfectly pleasant person whom we
just met when the system fails? When the rules no longer exist and it’s everyone
for themselves? Are they a good person, a just person? Where does their moral
compass lie? How far will they go to survive and to get what they want?

Okay, enough question marks. So I chose to return to writing about the
zombie apocalypse cause I dig that subject. I dig wondering just how we would survive,
what would we eat, blah, blah, blah. See, I managed to avoid the question marks
there. Clever, huh? Hope and love are every bit as important, if not more in
dire times.